21. Mr. Vyvyan Adamsasked the Lord Privy Seal whether he is aware that the experience of the Great War proved that half the value of respirators depended upon the facility with which they were worn; and whether he will therefore encourage the public to accustom themselves to their use by occasional practice for brief periods of time?
§ Sir J. AndersonI agree that it is desirable that members of the public should accustom themselves to wearing respirators. Over the greater part of the country the respirators have been distributed, and air-raid wardens can encourage their being worn from time to time.
Mr. AdamsWill my right hon, Friend say how soon all the necessary respirators are likely to be issued?
§ Sir J. AndersonIn the remainder of the country a fitting census has been or is being conducted and it is expected that the delivery of the balance of the respirators will be completed in a very short time.
§ Mr. PooleIs the Minister aware that people who suffer from bronchial afflictions cannot wear these respirators; and has his Department taken any steps to make an amended form of respirator available for those who suffer in that way?
§ Sir J. AndersonI have no reason to suppose that such an expedient would be practicable.
§ 22. Mr. Hicksasked the Lord Privy Seal whether he has yet reached any decision regarding the payment of compensation to dependants of persons who may be killed during peace time training for national voluntary service in connection with an industrial establishment; and whether he proposes to make any pro vision for compensation for disablement, either total or partial, which may be necessary as the result of an accident during peace-time training in an industrial establishment?
§ Sir J. AndersonVolunteers undergoing peace-time training for air-raid precautions duties in industrial and commercial establishments, in fulfilment of the statutory obligation which, as I stated recently in reply to a question, it is proposed to impose by forthcoming legislation, will come within the scope of the scheme of compensation which I announced on 2nd March.
23. Mr. W. Joseph Stewartasked the Lord Privy Seal whether anything has been done by his Department in connection with air-raid precautions to deal with the burning pit-heaps in Durham, many of which would act as beacons to enemy aircraft in the event of war; and whether a survey of these heaps has been made from the air as a test of their visibility?
§ Sir J. AndersonYes, Sir. My Department have, after consultation with the Ministry of Health and the Mines Department, been in communication with the Mining Association on the question of 1438 burning pit-heaps generally, and have stressed the importance, from the point of view of air-raid precautions, of securing the extinction of the fires as rapidly as possible. The Mining Association have brought the Department's representations to the notice of their district associations and requested them to appoint local committees to investigate the problem, where such committees were not previously in existence. I am informed that the committee concerned with pit-heaps in Durham has made considerable progress with its investigation and that many heaps which were at one time on fire are now extinguished. As regards the second part of the question, aerial surveys were made last year of burning pit-heaps in Durham and elsewhere.
Mr. StewartIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that there are thousands of people living in close proximity to these burning heaps, and will he at the earliest opportunity see that something is done to ascertain their visibility, because these people will be subject to great danger in the event of war and air raids?
§ Sir J. AndersonThat is realised, and that is why the investigations to which I have referred have been so actively pursued.
§ Mr. MathersWill the right hon. Gentleman's Department provide local authorities which wish to have the information with particulars as to how these fires can be damped down?
§ Sir J. AndersonCertainly; any information that is obtained as a result of the investigations will be made fully available.
24. Mr. David Adamsasked the Lord Privy Seal whether it is his intention to arrange a test black-out for the industrial districts of the North-East Coast; and, if so, in which month?
§ Sir J. AndersonArrangements have been made for a black-out on Tees-side to be held on 18th April and in the Humber district on 24th April.
§ Sir J. AndersonI cannot give an answer on that point at the moment.
§ Sir J. AndersonYes, please.
§ 25. Mr. McGovernasked the Lord Privy Seal whether his attention has been drawn to the protests of Glasgow East End tenants in the Sandyhills housing scheme, and by the Shettleston Ward Committee, against the air-raid precaution shelters being forced upon tenants, as they believe them to be of little value during bombing raids, and urging deep bomb-proof tunnels; and whether he proposes to take action along the line suggested?
§ Sir J. AndersonIt is not the intention of the Government that any householder should be forced to accept delivery of a shelter. There seems to have been some misunderstanding on this point when the distribution of these shelters first began in Shettleston, and I am glad to have this opportunity of making the position clear. At the same time, I would add that, as is already known to the House, these shelters have been submitted to very searching tests and have been shown to be completely effective for the purpose for which they are designed.
§ Mr. McGovernIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that a large number of these shelters have been dumped down without the consent of the people, who have neither paid for them nor desire them, that there is a complete lack of confidence, even of people who have knowledge, as to the ability of these shelters to protect the people, and that the general view of the inhabitants is that they are a complete sham?
§ Sir J. AndersonIn reply to the first part of that supplementary question, as I indicated in my reply there was some misunderstanding on the first distribution of those shelters, but that, I believe, has been completely removed. As regards the second part, I can only say that what the hon. Member has just stated is not borne out in actual experience.
§ 26. Mr. J. Morganasked the Lord Privy Seal whether he has now completed his examination of the question of the registration of property as well as personnel; and what are his conclusions?
§ Sir J. AndersonI presume that the hon. Member has in mind certain remarks which I made towards the close of the Debate on National Voluntary- Service on 6th December last. The point I was 1440 concerned to make then was that registration of property could only be regarded as part of a much larger problem concerned with the adjustment of the whole economic structure of the country to meet the shock of a major war. This larger problem has wide ramifications, many of which have been under examination which is still proceeding.
§ Mr. MorganWill the right hon. Gentleman be prepared to admit that the difficulty exists in the minds of many patriotically-minded people that the Government have not taken steps to require of the owners of property similar service, and also the difficulty about the way in which the Government are fumbling with foreign policy in these times?
§ 27. Mr. J. Hendersonasked the Lord Privy Seal whether he is aware that in the Ardwick division of Manchester no houses exist with the necessary accommodation to erect the proposed steel air-raid shelters and none with basements suitable for such shelters; and what provision is he making to cope with circumstances of this description?
§ Sir J. AndersonI am aware that in this and some other urban areas there are numbers of such houses, and work has been proceeding for some time on the best alternative methods of providing protection in these cases.
§ 28. Mr. Robert Gibsonasked the Lord Privy Seal whether he has considered the question of whether Greenock, Port Glasgow, and Gourock, with a population of about 110,000, forms a natural unit for the purpose of air-raid precautions; and whether he has any statement to make with regard to the organisation of this combined area for air-raid pre cautions purposes?
§ Sir J. AndersonIt is for the local authorities concerned, in the light of their local knowledge, to take the initiative in making proposals of this kind. The local authorities for these areas have not submitted to me any proposals for a joint scheme, but if any such proposals were submitted, they would at once receive sympathetic consideration.
§ 50. Mr. Kennedyasked the Minister of Health how many blankets have been ordered for air-raid precautions and emergency hospital requirements; and how many of these have been placed with Scottish manufacturers?
§ The Minister of Health (Mr. Elliot)The number of blankets ordered for these services is 425,000. Scottish manufacturers were invited to tender and did tender, but I am afraid that no Scottish manufacturer was successful.
§ Mr. KennedyMay we be assured that in the placing of orders to meet his requirements, the Minister will bear in mind that in the matter of quality and price Scottish manufactures of this commodity are the best in the market?
§ Mr. ElliotTenders are being called for for a further 50,000 blankets, and Scottish firms have been invited to tender for them also.